April 2026 | By Anna Dimak, Amanda Bryan & Mikayla Turner, CPG Pharmacy Residents
Last week, three Cascadia Pharmacy Group pharmacy residents packed their bags and headed to Washington, D.C. for the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA)’s annual Congressional Fly-In, joining pharmacists, student pharmacists, and pharmacy advocates from across the country for one of the most important events in independent pharmacy’s advocacy calendar. Here’s what they had to say about it.
Anna Dimak | Representing Centralia & Chehalis Pharmacies
For Anna, this year’s Fly-In carried extra weight. A veteran of the event, she’s attended for three consecutive years, but this time was different.
“This year was my best one yet,” she says. “I participated as a student for the last two years, and this is the first year I was able to advocate as a pharmacist practicing in a rural setting.”
Anna represented Centralia and Chehalis Pharmacies on behalf of owners Courtney and Will Quinby, bringing the realities of Lewis County directly to Washington state legislators. Veterans’ access to care was front and center in her conversations, specifically the Rx ACCESS bill, which would mandate the first audit of the PBM holding the Tricare contract since 2009, along with stronger patient protections for those who have served.
“Together, pharmacy is stronger,” Anna reflects. “It takes all of us to make a difference and improve the lives of our patients.”
Mikayla Turner | Advocating for Oregon’s Rural Communities
As an Oregon native and PGY-1 Resident with CPG, Mikayla came to the Fly-In with a deeply personal sense of purpose. She spent significant time advocating alongside Michele Belcher, owner of Grants Pass Pharmacy, focused on expanding veteran and Medicare patient access to medications and essential services, including test-to-treat programs for COVID, flu, and RSV.
“Many independent pharmacies in Oregon are located in areas with minimal access to healthcare, where the pharmacy often serves as one of the most accessible health care providers,” Mikayla notes. “Expanding access to these services would be critical in improving health outcomes, addressing gaps in care, and better supporting our local underserved communities.”
For Mikayla, the work isn’t abstract – it’s the daily reality of the pharmacies she works alongside, and the patients who depend on them.
Amanda Bryan | Finding Her Voice on the Hill
Amanda has known advocacy was her calling since pharmacy school. But this year’s Fly-In – her second – felt like a turning point.
“As a recent grad with residency and actual pharmacist work experience under my belt, I had even more personal experience to pull from,” she says. “Before CPG residency, I understood the priorities we were fighting for and against, but actually working in the independent space gave me the feeling of being a player in the game rather than just a bystander.”
She credits her preceptor Matt Binder for helping coordinate her participation in Oregon meetings alongside their Oregon pharmacy colleagues, in addition to her Washington meetings, giving her a voice in both states that hold special places in her heart.
“We are moving the needle, one meeting at a time,” Amanda says. “I wish I had found NCPA earlier in my pharmacy student career, but I am happy to have found a home in it now. Better late than never.”
Why This Matters
The NCPA Congressional Fly-In is one of the most direct expressions of what independent pharmacy advocacy looks like in practice: real pharmacists, telling real stories, to real legislators. This year, CPG sent three residents – early-career pharmacists who are already shaping the conversation at the federal level.
Their presence in D.C. is part of a larger story Cascadia Pharmacy Group is telling about independent pharmacy’s role in American healthcare – one that goes far beyond filling prescriptions. You can learn more about that story, and the OHA-funded Small Pharmacy. Big Care. campaign that’s bringing it to communities across Oregon, on our Advocacy page.
The work continues. And we’re just getting started.